This journal comprises several articles related to international relations. The first article is titled: The BRICS in an age of multipolarity: Sustaining strategic partnerships under difficult economic conditions by Philani Mthembu. While much has been achieved by these countries against the backdrop of much criticism and scepticism regarding their cooperation, questions still remain in a global economy that has struggled to recover following the financial crisis in 2008. On page 3 Intra-BRICS financial cooperation: Opportunities and challenges by Wang Fei. Finance has always been one of the vital cooperation issues among BRICS countries. On page 8 The BRICS agenda: functional co-operation between competing logics by Pooja Jain. This article attempts to analyze the BRICS and what drives the group in spite of the glaring differences and, at times, confrontational and opposing ideological positioning of some of its member countries. Page 11 Between dependence and autonomy: Understanding the power dynamics in Brazil– China relations by Daniel Cardoso. This article seeks to fill this gap by examining in a sustained way the various expressions of power in the relationship on three different levels: bilateral, regional and global. By doing this, the article aims to contribute to a better understanding of how outcomes in the bilateral relationship were produced and how actors were differentially enabled and constrained in this context. Page 15 BRICS 2016 and IBSA’s ‘Three Blind Mice’ by Francis Kornegay Jr. As Brazil and South Africa experience major political and economic woes, could it be that BRICS is increasingly becoming a forum of the RICs: Russia–India–China? Page 19 New economy and participation society: A general outline of the issue, formation of approaches in the BRICS countries and their promotion in the information space by Vadim V. Balytnikov. The 21st century is shaping a fundamentally new economic structure for our rapidly globalising world. This concerns not just new technological or financial elements of economic life; the essence of the new global economy primarily consists in creating and implementing fundamentally new forms, means, modes and methods of involving the working masses in production activity. Page 22 Current political and legal issues of international commercial arbitration: Globalisation of economy vs glocalisation of law Aleksey Kartsov. Page 25 Youth participation in the BRICS Youth Summits Sarisha Daya Page 27 Book Review: The End of American World Order by Amitav Acharya Siphamandla Zondi Page 29 Interview with Prof. Godfrey Netswera, head of the South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT).
